While the global community struggles to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, our latest episode investigates what role the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) plays in the internalization of the novel SARS coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Editor in Chief Irving H. Zucker (University of Nebraska Medical Center) interviews lead author Mark C. Chappell (Wake Forest University) and expert Paul McCray (University of Iowa) about the new Perspective by South et al on “COVID-19, ACE2 and the Cardiovascular Consequences.” We discuss whether the deleterious effects of SARS-CoV-2 are mediated through increasing Ang-II or augmenting the activity of ACE2. In this wide-ranging conversation our experts also discuss the kidney, the small intestine, and the heart—organs which express ACE2 and may be targeted by infection through viremia. We also touch on why the African American community has been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, sex differences, additional co-morbidities, and ACE-inhibitors. Listen now.

 

Andrew M. South, Debra I. Diz, and Mark C. Chappell COVID-19, ACE2, and the cardiovascular consequences Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published April 13, 2020. DOI: doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.00217.2020